NEW YORK.- Set up in 2000 to track and seize stolen art, the US Customs Art Fraud Investigation Center has been placed under the Department of Homeland Security. This was arranged by Congress in response to the attacks of September 11th which destroyed US Customs headquarters at the World Trade Center. The agents who were in charge of tracking and seizing stolen art have now been reassigned to investigate cases related to the war on terrorism and financial fraud.

Although Customs agents will still investigate cases of stolen art, no employees will work exclusively on art investigations. Although the decision has not been made official, government agents confirmed the move to The Art Newspaper at a ceremony in late November at the offices of the newly named Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Speaking to The Art Newspaper, ICE Acting Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia said, that following 11 September, “we made some adjustments given the new priorities that came our way.” These “adjustments” include redirecting the department’s efforts to focus on “financial transactions and terrorism.” The Department of Homeland Security now encompasses 22 former agencies, employs 170,000 and its current annual budget is $36.1 billion.

The deceased US Customs Art Fraud Investigation Center had an annual budget of $850,000 dollars approximately and half a dozen agents were said to be working exclusively on art cases.